Browse Lancaster County Court Dockets

What Is a Court Docket in Lancaster County

A court docket is the official, time-ordered list of every action taken in a court case. In Lancaster County the docket sits inside the Nebraska Judicial Branch case system known as JUSTICE. Each line is a single event: a filing, a hearing, an order, a fee payment, or a warrant entry. The docket is also called the register of actions. It is the spine of every case file and the first thing most lawyers, parties, and reporters review.

The docket is not the full case file. It points at documents rather than holding them. A motion shows up as one docket line; the actual motion text sits in a separate document image link. The same is true for orders and judgments. A reader can scan the docket in a few seconds, then click into the documents that matter. The Nebraska Judicial Branch overview explains how the state organizes its trial courts and what data each one feeds into JUSTICE.

Three trial tracks in Lancaster County publish dockets through the same statewide system. The Third Judicial District Court holds district dockets for felonies, divorces, equity, paternity, and large civil suits. The Lancaster County Court holds dockets for misdemeanors, traffic, probate, small claims, and felony preliminary hearings. The Separate Juvenile Court holds restricted juvenile dockets. The County Clerk does not run a court docket; that office handles marriage records and county-government files.

The branch overview page lays out the trial-court tiers that feed Lancaster County court dockets through JUSTICE, including the role of the County Court and the District Court.

How to Find Lancaster County Dockets Online

Two official tools cover Lancaster County court dockets. The first is the JUSTICE case search, which returns the full register of actions for any open or closed case. The second is the trial court calendar search, which returns upcoming hearings by date or by party last name. The calendar is the lighter, faster tool. It is also free to browse. The JUSTICE one-time case search costs $17 per party name.

Many users start with the calendar to confirm a hearing time, then move to the case search for the full register of actions and the document images. For frequent users, a Nebraska.gov subscriber account opens the same data with free general lists and $2 detail views. The walk-in route at the courthouse remains free and runs on the same case management system.

1. Open the Nebraska trial court calendar search.
2. Pick a date or enter the party last name.
3. Filter by court type, with Lancaster County District, County, and Separate Juvenile each listed.
4. Review the hearing list. Each row shows date, courtroom, judge, and the case number.
5. For the full register of actions, open the JUSTICE case search with the case number or party name.

The county-court page at the Nebraska Judicial Branch site sets out the case types that the Lancaster County Court hears. The same case types drive what shows up on the docket and calendar.

The county-court page lines up with Lancaster County court dockets by listing misdemeanors, traffic, probate, small claims, and preliminary hearings.

Lancaster County Trial Court Calendar Search Fields

The trial court calendar tool keeps its inputs simple. A user can search by date or by party last name. The calendar then returns hearings for the courts that schedule through JUSTICE, which includes every Lancaster County trial-court track. The fields below come straight from the official calendar search page.

Note that the calendar tool only shows scheduled events. It does not return the docket history of a case. For history, switch to the JUSTICE case search and pull the full register of actions.

Sample Lancaster County Docket Entry

A typical docket line in JUSTICE has a handful of fields. Each line ties an event to a date, a filer, and often a document. Reading from top to bottom shows the case story from filing to disposition. A bench-warrant line coded BW FTA, for example, points to a missed court date and the warrant the judge then issued. A satisfaction line points to a paid judgment.

The full docket can run dozens of lines in a complex case. Read it in date order and watch for the disposition line, the sentence or judgment line, and any post-judgment activity such as garnishments, satisfactions, or appeals. Sealed entries are redacted at the line level so the public view skips them entirely.

Courts That Publish Dockets in Lancaster County

Three local trial courts feed Lancaster County court dockets into the statewide system. Each court has its own scope, its own clerk track, and its own set of docket prefixes. The Third Judicial District Court is general jurisdiction. The Lancaster County Court is limited jurisdiction. The Separate Juvenile Court is one of only three in the state and runs as a court of record for juvenile matters.

The District Court has eight judges, one referee, and two staff attorneys, serving more than 317,000 people. Sitting judges include Hon. Matthew O. Mellor in Courtroom 30, Hon. Susan I. Strong in Courtroom 31, Hon. Lori A. Maret in Courtroom 32, Hon. Kevin R. McManaman in Courtroom 33, Hon. Andrew R. Jacobsen in Courtroom 34, Hon. Darla S. Ideus in Courtroom 35, Hon. Ryan S. Post in Courtroom 36, and Hon. Jodi L. Nelson in Courtroom 37, with Referee Jennifer Kulwicki in Courtroom 38. Each courtroom feeds its own daily docket.

• Third Judicial District Court publishes dockets for felonies, divorces, paternity, equity, and civil cases over $70,000, plus appeals from County Court.
• Lancaster County Court publishes dockets for misdemeanors, traffic, probate, guardianship, conservatorship, adoption, small claims, and felony preliminary hearings.
• Separate Juvenile Court publishes restricted dockets for neglect, delinquency, dependency, and juvenile custody, with four judges serving more than 280,000 people.

County Court judges in Lancaster include Hon. Matthew L. Acton, Hon. Joseph E. Dalton, Hon. Holly J. Parsley, Hon. Timothy C. Phillips, Hon. Rodney D. Reuter, Hon. Ryan N. Decker, and Hon. Thomas E. Zimmerman. The clerk for the Lancaster County Court is Melissa Ireland.

Docket vs. Full Case Record

A docket is a list of events. A full case record is the documents behind those events. The docket is light, fast, and free or low-cost to view. The full case record may need a fee, a subscriber account, or a visit to the Clerk of the District Court at 575 South 10th Street. Both data sets live in JUSTICE; the docket is what you see in the case detail view, and the documents sit under the document image link for each line.

A practical workflow is to pull the docket first, identify the few lines that matter, then pay for the document images that go with those lines. That approach keeps costs down on a deep-dive review.

How to Read a Lancaster County Docket

Dockets are built from short codes. Common event codes include CMP for complaint, INF for information, MOT or MTN for motion, ORD for order, HRG for hearing, ARR for arraignment, JDG for judgment, SAT for satisfaction, and BW for bench warrant. A line tagged BW FTA points to a failure-to-appear warrant. A line tagged BW FTP points to a failure-to-pay warrant. The State of Nebraska shows as the moving party in criminal cases. A plaintiff name shows in civil cases.

Disposition codes track outcomes. "Dismissed with prejudice" means the State or plaintiff cannot refile. "Dismissed without prejudice" means refiling is allowed. "Adjudication withheld" can route a case toward eventual set-aside under § 29-2264. A signed judge order is controlling. An unsigned proposed order is not yet in force, even if it appears on the docket.

Case prefixes also tell you which court owns the docket. CR is criminal, CI is civil, TR is traffic, PR is probate, SC is small claims, GU is guardianship, AD is adoption, JV is juvenile, and DR is domestic relations. A full case caption ties the prefix, the year, and a sequence number into one ID.

Restricted and Sealed Docket Entries

Not every docket line is public. Sealed criminal cases, juvenile petitions, adoption files, mental health records, and grand jury notes drop out of the public view. A juvenile adjudication is not a criminal conviction under § 43-280, and juvenile sealing under § 43-2,108.05 may remove the docket entirely from search. The core public records right under § 84-712 still controls what stays open.

A party to a sealed case can usually pull the docket through the clerk with proper ID. A non-party generally needs a court order. The Clerk of the District Court at 402-441-7328 is the first call for sealed district or juvenile docket access. The County Court at 402-441-7291 is the first call for sealed county-court matters.

Clerks That Handle Lancaster County Dockets

For docket questions that the online tools cannot answer, the local clerks are the right call. The Clerk of the District Court handles district and juvenile dockets. The Lancaster County Court has its own clerk for county-court dockets. Both offices keep regular business hours and accept walk-in record requests. Bring a photo ID and the case number when you visit.

The Lancaster County Sheriff, Terry T. Wagner, serves bench warrants and other docket-driven orders through the Sheriff's Court Services Division. The County Attorney's Office under Patrick F. Condon files criminal complaints and informations that drive most criminal dockets. The Public Defender's Office under Kristi J. Egger appears on the defense side. Each office shows up by name in the docket entries.

Related Lancaster County Resources

For full case files behind the docket entries, see Lancaster County court records. Criminal-side cases are tracked at arrest records. Active orders are at warrant records. Citation files are at traffic court records. The trial-court profile sits at District Court, and the clerk profile sits at Clerk of the District Court. For county-government records that fall outside the court track, see County Clerk and public records. Common docket questions are answered on the FAQ page.